Manchester City 8-0 Salford City
by James Nalton 
at the City of Manchester Stadium

THERE was a party atmosphere at Eastlands despite the one-sided scoreline as Manchester City defeated Salford City in the FA Cup third round.

Many of the tickets for this game were available at £10 for adults and £5 for children, and even at the higher price points tickets were priced relatively reasonably at £20 for adults and £5 for children.

This is the kind of pricing that should be seen more often in football.

It meant attendance remained high despite the lower-profile nature of the game, and also made for an enthusiastic atmosphere which wouldn’t have been the case had tickets been more expensive.

There were plenty of Salford City fans in the away section, too. No doubt some of these were also of a Manchester United persuasion which added to the derby feel despite the gulf in quality between the teams.

Former United player and now Salford City director of football Ryan Giggs was present on the touchline alongside manager Karl Robinson, but no-one could stop the Premier League juggernaut.

The stars of the game for Man City were 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly and 22-year-old James McAtee.

O’Reilly usually operates as an attacking midfielder but was stationed on the left of defence in this game. He used his 6-foot-2 frame to fill in as a left-sided centre-back as Guardiola’s team regularly flipped between a back three and a back four.

O’Reilly got his name on the scoresheet from the type of attacking position Josko Gvardiol has often found himself in from left-back for Man City, but it was McAtee who really stood out in attack.

Playing from a midfield position that allowed him to roam forward, he scored a hat-trick that any striker would have been proud of. Indeed, Erling Haaland smirked on the bench as McAtee netted his third.

The pair were ably supported by Jack Grealish, Savinho and Jeremy Doku, while 20-year-old striker Divin Mubama, signed from West Ham in the summer, showed his potential usefulness with a goal of his own.

Even though this game was against a lower standard of opposition, manager Pep Guardiola must be tempted to inject the additional energy brought by these players into his team on a more regular basis.

In the second half with the game already won, Man City fans performed the Poznan and sang songs poking fun at their opponents’ links to Manchester United.

Even within the context of Man City’s struggles to retain their Premier League crown, the exhibition-like display from the players in the Cup gave fans something to cheer, and the additional atmosphere brought by lower ticket pricing should be a lesson to all Premier League and EFL teams.